Long live transience

For a food manufacturer, it’s important that consumers are not disappointed when they make a repeat purchase of a product. So no surprises, because they could fall flat. And when consumers are disappointed, they don’t buy it again. Manufacturers accept the fact that this means that consumers will never be positively surprised either.

For close to a decade now, and for all kinds of food manufacturers, I’ve been developing products that above all should always be the same. Yet at home I always cook on the fly, without a recipe. That results in a new surprise every evening, which I not only take a lot of satisfaction in but I also learn more from.

As of this month I am now working completely freelance and I’ll primarily be striving to make products that are purposefully different every time. For example, I’m currently working on a range of beers that – thanks to a unique blend of natural yeasts (which are freshly harvested for each brewing mix) – will be impossible to reproduce. I personally see that as a strength, because our lives already have so much routine and predictability. Long live transience!

Of course, the challenge in the case of products that are different every time lies in automation and scaling up. Small-scale operations can easily be adjusted manually, but as soon as you automate your process you face new challenges Still, I don’t see that as a reason to keep making the same-old same old. Changing products can be scaled up too. You just need the right amount of ingenuity, a heap of knowledge and a hint of creativity. 

Dennis Favier, Food Designer